Desperately needed some 6mm needles, couldn’t find any in the local shops, and too impatient to order them on-line, so followed the instructions given on http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips and made my own!
The guy at the hardware shop looked at me like I was off my rocker when he asked me what I needed it for an I said ‘knitting needles’ and then knew I was mad when I bought 2 metres of 6mm dowel. But out of it, I got 2 nice long single point needles and 4 DPNs that are long enough to be used for single points if needed.
Far cheaper than buying even just one pair of needles at the department store.
However, I couldn’t leave it there, so bought myself a packet of pom-poms ($3.50) and a hot glue gun ($8.95) and instead of using elastic bands as stoppers at the end, glued a purple pom-pom to the end.
Actual cost of pair : $17.15 - far more than a store bought pair. But I don’t care, my needles are unique, and, more importantly[I] I made them myself[/I]
Very cool looking! You might want to stick the rubberband on the end, too - I don’t think the pompom will really stop stitches from falling off the back.
Oh - maybe glue a button on the end, then the pompom…
Oh, its very easy. Find the thickness of dowel that you want - in this case it was 6mm. Cut it into the lengths you want. Use a pencil sharpener to put the points on. Then sand to get all the snags out. The sanding is the longest and hardest part, because they need to be sanded very well. I used 400 grit to get the snags out, and finished with 1200 grit to give them a polish.
They are not as slippery as metal or plastic, but as I am a very loose knitter, that suits me just fine.
I’ve also made some 2.75 mm needles using the same method by using bamboo skewers that were holding chicken kebobs together we had that night, and have got some strange shaped needles (size unknown) from a pair of take-away chop sticks.
Making the needles is almost as much fun as actually knitting. Almost.
Nice! My great auntie gave me a bunch of hand made needles all wittled by hand, nothing like a hand made set of needles. I love them and will take your lead and make my next set on my own :happydance:
